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DVD sales tumbled this year as the weak economy and competition from the Internet soured consumers on buying new discs. What’s a movie studio to do?<\/p>\n
\nLook to the iPhone to goose sales.<\/p>\n
\nNBC Universal and 20th Century Fox have launched interactive apps that tap into DVD or Blu-ray discs to augment viewing. The apps provide information about the film and stars and connect you with friends to chat about the movie while you watch.<\/p>\n
\nFox’s FoxPop uses the microphone on your iPhone, or your laptop, to “hear” the audio signal from the movie you’re watching, then responds with pop-ups about the movie. It also intersects with Facebook and Twitter for movie chats.<\/p>\n
\nUniversal’s Pocket Blu is just for the iPhone. It turns the device into a remote control for the movie if you watch on a Blu-ray player (it doesn’t work with traditional DVDs or computers) and plays trailers for upcoming movies.<\/p>\n
\nBoth apps are on selected movies at first, such as Fox’s Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian and 500 Days of Summer, and Universal’s Funny People and Bruno.<\/p>\n
\nWith FoxPop, once you sync the DVD and the iPhone or computer with the app, “We know where you are in the movie,” says Ajay Shah, CEO of start-up Spot411, which created the technology for Fox. “You can actually leave a message for a friend who might watch the movie in the future.”<\/p>\n
\nSo instead of tapping him or her on the shoulder in the theater and saying, “Catch this, here’s the funny part,” you can do that with text on the iPhone or computer, Shah says.<\/p>\n
\nYou might find that annoying in the theater, but online, it’s a silent tap, he says. “You can either take part or not.”<\/p>\n
Creative Packaging<\/p>\n
\nOlder viewers might scoff at the idea of adding these apps to DVD and Blu-ray,… <\/p>\n
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